The following is 1 of 2 interviews I recently did with two pastors who are embarking on a new journey -- planting churches. I asked both of them a few questions about their story in each of these interviews.

Zak White currently serves on staff at The Connection Church in Kyle, TX as Executive Pastor. He won't be there much longer because he is stepping out to plant a church. This is part of his story.

Me:Tell us where you are serving and what you are currently doing?Zak: I currently serve on staff at The Connection Church as Executive Pastor. I'll be on staff for one more week and then we are officially on the field. Right now I am training our creative teams at TCC to continue our creative work when I leave.

Me: Church planting is what some would call "risky business." What was the 'tipping point' for you to take the plunge into starting a new church?Zak: After months of wrestling through this decision I was about ready to throw in the towel. Then I heard Bil Cornelius speak at a small church planters retreat about prayer and the absence of it in the lives of pastors. At the time, my prayer life was pathetic at best and i felt extremely convicted. When I returned home I woke up an hour early everyday for three weeks and prayed asking God to clearly tell me what to do. Long story short, God answered my prayers in an amazing way. My prayer life now consists of several hours per week, so God also used the process to change my life.

Me: What do you think you'll miss most about your current role\ministry?Zak: Our lead pastor, Cole Phillips, family pastor, Nic Burleson, and the Austin area.

Me: Tell us about the new church you are creating? What will it be like? Zak: We are all about loving God, loving people and starting a spiritual revolution in one life at a time. That is what defines us. If it doesn't make Jesus famous then we aren't doing it. We might look a little like The Connection Church in terms of some of our strategy because that's where I learned all I know about church planting.

Before even choosing a name I felt God saying that I needed to gather a HUGE prayer team first. Within a week we launched The Prayer Team. Then, to choose a church name, we are utilizing our second website, Name This Church.com. (Editor's note: I cannot believe both of these domains were available. Amazing.) I think those sites and the strategies behind them make us unique. Check them out and share with us please!

Me: What does the road look like prior to your launch? Zak: Our strategy on paper is about 20 pages, so I will give it to you SHORT: Lots of block parties (we have a huge custom BBQ pit being built on a trailer which I call "Grill-Zilla") lots of ministry and lots of meeting people in any way we possibly can.

Me: What's the most valuable thing you've learned so far in this particular leg of your journey?Zak: I have learned that as a planter you need a seriously committed prayer team, a slamming group of partner churches and a Kingdom mindset. I also believe that you need to know your strengths and work to them.

Me: How can we support you in this new endeavor?Zak: Sign up for our prayer team. Updates are sent out on the 8th, 18th, and 28th of each month.

Me: Anything else you'd like to say?Zak: Terrace Crawford shall be on staff with me one day. ;)

Can't wait to show you the little music video our staff put together this past week.

We shot the vid in about 30 minutes... but its funny and promotes our next series, "You Gotta Have Faith," that starts this weekend.

Verrry busy weekend.

Helped raise nearly $1,000 towards our mission goal this weekend. We still have a little ways to go if you'd like to help put us over the top. Contact me if you'd like to contribute.

We had a baptism service on Sunday afternoon. The service went great and we were enjoying a picnic lunch that was interrupted by a BIG scare...

A 2 year old in our church family had a seizure and stopped breathing. Fortunately one of our friends - who is a nurse - was able to perform CPR and literally saved his life! We saw God work a miracle before our eyes. He is back at home and seems to be doing well now.

Speaking of miracles, I need one with my car. My mechanic called me earlier this evening and told me that it is officially dead. It needs a new motor or I need a new car. Urrgh.

Michael Jackson's death came as a shock to me. I knew he was in poor health but never expected his passing.

Been watching the news coverage, lots of tribute videos, and listening to my favorite MJ songs all weekend long.

I'm craving seafood right now. Shrimp specifically.

Perhaps its because a friend just invited me to a party where he'll be serving seafood?

Transformers was a great movie; however, 2.5 hours long with 2.0 hours of action is a little much for me. A person needs a mental break!

Had a great time lunching with the staff of Waters Edge today. Loved hearing their story.

Looking forward to sharing some interviews I've done recently here on the blog.

I'm currently contemplating 3 different things that could help youth workers everywhere. Still very early in the brainstorming stages.

Looking forward to conferences this fall but Kem Meyer made me want to register for Innovate after checking this post.

My very good friend, ChurchyDave, is on a journey cross-country and will be blogging his adventure this week. He departs from Los Angeles, CA tomorrow and will arrive back in Va Beach, VA this weekend. Wish I could have made the trip with him.

Gearing up to speak 6 different messages to students next week. Say a prayer!

You can now donate to my ministry on this site - click the donate button in the right sidebar.

I've fallen off the soda-wagon. I plan to cut them out... seriously I do.

I just got the p90x program. I'm going to give it a shot. It may kill me.

Threw a theme party last night for students in middle & high school. It was a super hero theme party. I dressed up too!

I'm trying to raise $3000 in 3 weeks. I'm up to $880. I desperately need your help. If you want to donate or support the cause, contact me.

Excited about an interview I did last night with two leaders who are embarking on a new journey. I hope to post it here this week.

My car died on Friday. A mechanic friend has NO CLUE whats wrong with it. Please say some prayers. I need my car! And I miss my car...

Had a great time hanging out Kairos cafe over the weekend. Two of our church members covered songs by Jewel, U2, Jennifer Knapp and Matchbox Twenty. It was awesome.

I miss living near the beach. My last house was literally one block from the shore! Oh, how I took that for granted. At least I'm not too far now.

You can now donate to my ministry on this site - click the donate button in the right sidebar.

I signed into one of my old email accounts and the greeting said "Hello, Isabell!" // suddenly have an identity-theft-victim sick feeling.

Glad I found out the reason for the rise in green avatars on twitter. I thought the world had gone mad!

I'm convinced I live in a bit of a bubble. I'm doing some thinking on this....

Selling a couple of things on eBay. I'm not very good at it. I actually have a couple of friends who quit their fulltime jobs to sell on eBay. I think I need to get some tips from them. If you, o dear reader, are good at it -- email me with your secret.

Today was our first FAST FOOD FRIDAY of the summer. I sent out a message about an hour before arriving at ChickFilA and got some peeps to show up. We had a grand ole' time...

Afterwards we hit up Tropical Smoothie Cafe -- as its National Flip Flop Day -- which means, FREE smoothies for everyone! ((if you are wearing flip flops, of course)). Thank Goodness its Flip Flop Day.

I blogged recently about how my faith was on the rise. God has certainly increased my faith through several things he has done in recent weeks that I truly consider miracles.

In the post I mentioned, I also stated that I was anticipating another miracle. I want to take students to Charleston this summer to minister in urban communities and we need money to make it happen. I set a goal of $3000 that I needed to raise in 3 weeks (to even consider going) and we are falling short of that goal. The situation doesn't look good -- but I'm hopeful. I've been able to help raise $880 so far but we've got a distance to go to make it a reality. Would you consider helping us in this endeavor? I'm certainly more about giving than receiving on this blog but I feel led to share the need with this community and trust God for the results. Any support - whether by prayer or financial is appreciated.

If you'd like to give a tax deductible contribution, email me for the details.

I heard a commercial on mainstream radio the other day that captured my attention. Basically asking "what if the church... were the church?" Upon arriving at my house I immediately logged on to find out more. Check out the fresh new campaign and movement of the United Methodist Church.

Ok, not really... but it definitely was a tremendous asset to me yesterday. My car broke down on the interstate just after I traveled through a tunnel. I pulled off on the shoulder while still on the bridge and soon discovered that a hose had busted. I immediately took action and tweeted about it! If you don't follow me on twitter take a look at what you missed in 2 hours time yesterday.

Soon after I tweeted about the car being disabled a friend of mine called me to see if I needed help. Actually, I started getting replies on Facebook and on twitter, not to mention texts to my phone. This one instance could prove the power of social media... and certainly made my day a little easier yesterday.

Leaders who work in the church or non-profit environment should be some of the hardest working people around. Why? We work for a cause! Hopefully what we do is helping others. We are striving to make a difference. If this is the case why do people who work in our organizations slip into poor work habits? Sam Rainer just posted a top ten list of bad work habits.

1. Procrastination. It’s harmful at any level, but the effects of this bad habit are compounded at higher leadership levels. If a ministry leader or senior pastor consistently procrastinates, then everyone is forced into a last minute fiasco. If top leaders don’t plan ahead, then by default no one plans ahead.

3. Confusing informal with disrespectful. I doubt most pastors would prefer to be called “The Most Holy Reverend Doctor” [yes, you don't have to introduce me as pastor or youth pastor to your friends]. In my experience, most church staff are on a first name basis. In church work, a direct superior may also be a best friend, but authority and submission must remain intact.

4. Taking advantage of leeway. For me, one of the most refreshing parts of being called into ministry from the corporate world was flexible hours. I work longer, more intense hours at the church, but I don’t have to be at my desk for specific times anymore. I’ve seen many workaholic pastors and many lazy pastors, with very few in between. Neither extreme is admirable, but lazy pastors are especially harmful to Kingdom work.

5. Refusing to mingle. It’s a sad truth, but you can work at a church and never be among the people.

6. Consistently running late or going over. A person who does not honor time parameters erodes trust. Occasional offenses are forgivable. A pattern of time abuse shows disrespect for others.

7. Staying in a silo. Most midsize to large churches have departments, programs, and separate ministries. Clear distinctions of job responsibilities accompany these silos. The mission killer is usually not the silo. The mission killer is the “it’s not my job” attitude.

8. Acting as the resident contrarian. “Yes” men and women are annoying. People who always believe their ideas are better are doubly annoying.

9. Electronically badmouthing the church. A blog is tantamount to speaking on a street corner with a megaphone. Not too many people would air dirty laundry that way. An even more cowardly action is blog-bashing a church.

10. Politicking. Church work requires smoothing edges and rubbing shoulders with the right people. Consistent politicking, however, makes people question a person’s motivation.

Simply Youth Ministry just kicked off their 40|40|40 Sale - which means they are offering the best youth ministry resources at 40% off regular price! The only catch is that the sale only lasts for 40 hours! Hurry, go check it out!

Its high time I give away more resources on this blog. What can I say? Its what I love to do. This contest is particularly targeted to youth workers but open to everyone. It's real simple too. Just leave a comment with your name and where you are located (city\state or territory only)andyou'll be entered to win! (Hurry, contest closes Wednesday, June 10, 2009 - 3:00PM est.)

Increase your prize: Just for you folks on twitter I'll also throw in a Starbucks gift card if you tweet about this contest and leave the URL to your status\update in the comments as proof. (Just add this to your comment with your name & location).

The lead pastor was on vacation. Our worship pastor, Russ, preached a great message on Forgiveness.

I was supposed to lead in prayer right before Russ came on. I totally missed my cue and heard the worship leader say "this is the part where TC comes to pray [crickets]." I sprinted (well, actually, I've never sprinted anywhere) and to the stage and immediately said "uh... this is the part where TC misses his cue... and thanks God that the message is on forgiveness." Ha.

Pray for my stepfather, Jimmie. He works for GM and they just filed bankruptcy. He is one year from retirement.

Meeting up with this guy later this week. Can't wait to hang with him.

Putting together some concerts for our church.

Watched the MTV Movie Awards last night. In someone else's words "they were literally a train wreck but I couldn't help but watch!" A mixture of the most random, entertaining, chaotic and yes, even obscene at times show.

Then, the fun didn't stop there. He sent 2 ADT security salesmen my way to help install them just when I needed a hand. They literally knocked at my door and I said "I'm right in the middle of installing a washer\dryer." They replied "can we help!?"

I'm itching to giveaway something on the blog this week. Keep watching & reading - you could win!

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This is a personal blog. The opinions expressed here represent my own and not
those of my employer or any other entity I may be affiliated with. Additionally, my thoughts and opinions may change
from time to time. I consider this a consequence of having an open mind. This blog is intended to provide a channel
for me to communicate and opinions represented may offer a snapshot of the various memes running around my brain,
and as such any thoughts and opinions expressed within out-of-date posts may not the same, nor even similar, to
those I may hold today.The best youth ministry content on the web can be found here. We offer the best youth ministry tips, resources, how-tos, videos and more. You can also find small group curriculum too. Terrace Crawford is a nationally recognized, affordable, Christian youth speaker. He is a much-sought-after speaker to teenagers and offers mentoring to youth and to youth workers around the world. You can also find free resources for your youth pastor networks on this site.